Royal Linkage

PEDI

"How is your brother?" my father asked, sitting in the dark like he usually did, waiting for us to return.

"Shouldn't you be asleep old man?"  I replied, closing the window I'd just crept through.
I couldn't exactly just walk through the front door, not at this time of morning. If anybody saw me, well... that would be my unfortunate ending.
 
"I would've been but I can't, you see I have this little problem.." my dad said back while getting up from his position on the chair we'd made all together back when there was four of us and walking towards his room to finally get some rest "I'm raising these two crazy animals that love to play close to the line of danger, and I can't sleep without knowing they are at least in their cages" he pushed open his beaded door curtain and disappeared behind them.
 
I carefully placed my tools back on display among our decorative artefacts, this was where I kept them, where my mother had kept them, in plain sight.
See it wouldn't make any sense to have three sets of weapons in a home that only ever had two men, however thanks to my dad being a huntsman it was no shock he'd have a proud display in his home, my mother knew people wouldn't question that which was right in front of them, they'd rather question things that don't actually exist. "Se fofu sago bona", the blindness of seeing.
 
I walked to my room to do some reading, "he is well" I told my father as I passed his room to go to my own where under and between my blankets I'd hid the books I had managed to collect over time, grabbing my favourite and an actual blanket I went to sit by my window where the bright light from the moon and stars were streaming in, allowing me to see.
 
"Hey mama..." I whispered, then began reading in the same whisper tone, reading for the both us. This was always one of our favourite things to do, it was like a little window to see beyond our villages ways.
I kept reading and started giggling when I saw some of the notes she'd left in the novel, making fun of the main characters - she used to do that with my dad, they'd exchange readings, she'd act like she was delivering them to the kings men, to keep busy on the hunt, but she was actually reading them then she would scribble little notes for my dad to read - the more I read on, my giggles turned into silent fits of laughter, with tears and all. I could just see her face as she wrote these, that woman had jokes.
 
As my laughter died down, I head sniffing, I knew it was from my dad. We were doing the exact same thing, we just looked at life different.
He saw his failure to protect the love of his life and now nobody would write him notes, while I saw it a blessing she was borrowed to us and glad she'd left a part of herself for us.
I think it's he's pride that kills him most, he is the best hunter in our kingdom and those surrounding, he has been to many wars and has headed entire armies, there is no greater warrior to have walked these lands, he has been the reason behind our villages safety for a long time.  He was in essence, a silent king. 
We were never invaded because other tribes feared him... until that one night.
 
Xaba. That was the name of the rebel group that had settled into our kingdoms woods, on the very edges. The Kings of these lands came together to ensure this threat was terminated before they could do any damage, as damage was all the rebels every did.
We knew about the rebels, they were savages, who lived for pillaging through innocent and unsuspecting villages. They took riches from kingdoms for the fun - they never used it though, they just took because they liked how it felt - raped and killed for sport. They were something we couldn't have let fester, they had to be put down.  Once word got here that they were on our front stoops, there were no other options.
 
My father was once again called to serve and he didn't disappoint, he stepped up as the leader of all the kingdoms forces and divulged a plan that would end the rebels, forever. The plan was not spoken about beyond the king's chambers but of course my mother knew, hell she helped plan it and they were so sure they would be cleansing the earth of a little of its scum and securing their kingdom.
They had no idea just how much blood would be spilled, how much of it would be ours.